• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Stavanger: The small base with a big heart

USAFE News

Release Date: 9/04/2003

By Karen Abeyasekere 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (USAFENS) -- Not many people know they exist or what they do, but in the southwest corner of Norway (located right on the coast) can be found a small community of U.S. military members stationed at Stavanger. For them it's certainly the place to be - and they just don't want to give it up.

Consisting of three buildings on base, the 426th Air Base Squadron has just 40 people in its unit, including seven local nationals and four government schedule civilians, making up 13 functional areas, said Lt. Col. Mark Husband, 426th ABS commander.

"We support the entire U.S. community here in Stavanger, which consists of around 70 military and 130 family members," he said. "Thirty to 35 of those U.S. military personnel work in the NATO Headquarters among all four services - Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines - and the rest include our transportation, force protection, resource advisor, finance, contracting, services, medical, housing, chaplain, legal, personnel and education, and communications and post office personnel."

The Joint Sub-Regional Command North NATO Headquarters has traditionally supported Strategic Command Europe with their task of safeguarding the area extending from the northern tip of Norway to Southern Europe, including the whole of the Mediterranean and from the Atlantic coastline to the eastern border of Turkey. However, the headquarters is transitioning to become a Joint Warfare Center emphasizing training and interoperability among the partner nations in NATO. And while the mission may change, the need for support will not.

"Our folks have to have the breadth and competence to man an entire functional area and the expertise to cope with it. They have to be able to answer any type of question on their particular area," said Husband, explaining that a main operating base has entire squadrons covering each of these functions, whereas they have between one and three people per functional area.

"We tend to have more experienced folks here as our lowest rank is a staff sergeant, and our local nationals provide the continuity we need," he said. "We do a lot of taskings that are continuous and they have the local knowledge required for the job."

Husband explained the 426th ABS also provides support in managing several storage bases for transportation equipment for U.S. forces, with two local nationals working out of Oslo, and its legal office is responsible for managing Status of Forces Agreement issues throughout Norway and Denmark.

Though the squadron itself does not perform NATO business, some of their sections support personnel in the functional areas that do work in NATO. Bilateral and multilateral agreements mean their facilities are used by other nations, such as Canadians using their medical aid station and post office and all NATO members being allowed to use the base exchange and services facilities.

Though they pretty much look after themselves, like everyone else, the 426th sometimes needs a little extra help.

"The amount of support we get from the 100th Air Refueling Wing is excellent," said Husband. "I, or one of my representatives, visit Mildenhall to attend wing staff meetings once a month. This allows me to interface with the wing commander on a regular basis.

"When I first arrived here, one of the things I stressed to my people was to develop a good relationship with their functional counterparts at the wing and I believe we've done that," he said, adding that they bring a (Navy) C-12 there on a regular basis which allows other wing members to visit Stavanger and provide training, as well as staff assistance visits and bringing over registered mail.

Husband said working in Norway provides many advantages for his people.

"The pace of life is much slower - I came to Stavanger from Naples, Italy, a city of three million people, where it was hectic and very crowded.

And many people take advantage of the slower pace to continue their education.

"Our education programs here are excellent," said Senior Master Sgt. Rich Campbell, Stavenger's Military Personnel and Education director, who's currently on his fourth assignment in Norway. "Last year we had 100 percent of our military members actively doing some type of off-duty education, such as PME, college or (skill level) upgrade training. This year we're currently around 90 percent."

"Also, 100 percent of the U.S. Air Force members who need a Community College of the Air Force degree are briefed and provided progress reports every six months, versus just when they inprocess," he continued.

And it's because of this type of small community atmosphere with more personalized service that those stationed at Scavenger enjoy calling it home.

"We are a small unit, providing big base support, which allows us to give - and receive -the kind of personalized service you can only get by being a small unit."